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Andy Burnham has been warned by Labour's Left that they could revive their rebellion against 'punitive' benefits cuts.

Since taking office, the Prime Minister has said Britain 'must get really serious' about curbing welfare spending.

But he has been told by Labour MPs not to 'ignore the lessons of the last Parliament' when his predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced a mass revolt over proposed changes.

The former PM was forced into a humiliating climbdown last summer on his plans to restrict access to disability benefits.

Sir Keir wanted to tighten rules for claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in an effort to save billions of pounds from Britain's ballooning welfare bill.

A huge rebellion from his own MPs derailed his plans, with Sir Keir instead ordering disability minister Stephen Timms to undertake a major review of PIP.

Ahead of Sir Stephen publishing his final review in the autumn, Mr Burnham has suggested he is ready to make a renewed case for benefits changes to his party.

Kim Johnson, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, told the new PM not to 'revive the failed politics of welfare cuts instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share'.

Andy Burnham has been warned by Labour's Left that they could revive their rebellion against 'punitive' benefits cuts

Data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed there were four million claimants entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at the end of April

The Liverpool Riverside MP told Bloomberg she was concerned that Mr Burnham's appointment of John Healey, the former defence secretary, as his Chancellor 'signals a return to a "warfare, not welfare" approach'.

'If the new leadership believes it can revive the failed politics of welfare cuts instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share, it will be repeating not only Keir Starmer's mistakes but 14 years of Tory austerity,' she added.

'If the first instinct of a new leadership is to target disabled people and low-income families rather than challenge the wealth and inequality at the top of society, then nothing has been learned.'

Ms Johnson added that it would be 'absolutely mad to ignore the lessons of the last Parliament' and forget that Labour MPs 'made our opposition to welfare cuts crystal clear'.

She warned Mr Burnham would face the 'same resistance' if he opted for the same approach.

John McDonnell, another member of the Socialist Campaign Group who was Labour's shadow chancellor during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the party, said any future welfare reform 'must be based upon a strategy of providing positive support to people rather than punitive sanction'.

He said it would otherwise not be backed by Labour MPs and the party's wider membership.

'I believe Andy Burnham gets that and my hope is that those around him appreciate it too,' the Hayes and Harlington MP added.

Asked on Tuesday if he is ready to do battle with Labour MPs on welfare reform, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I want to reform the welfare system in a way that puts work and opportunity at its heart.

'I believe that we owe young people in particular more than an income, we owe them a future too.

'It's changing the system to put work and opportunity and a good future at its heart that drives me every day, and is also the best way to control the welfare bill in the longer term.'

The number of people in England and Wales claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, has now passed four million for the first time.

The number of claimants has roughly doubled since 2019, with spending on PIP forecast to rise to more than £41billion by the end of the decade.

PIP is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.

It has been revealed that teenagers claiming PIP for conditions such as anxiety receive £100 a week more than part-time workers on a minimum wage.

In an interview with the BBC at the weekend, Mr Burnham said: 'I think we've got to get really serious as a country at getting the welfare bill down.'

Pressed on how he might attempt to cut the ballooning benefits bill, the PM added: 'It's about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them.'